Well, well, Brian: the story is complicated. The reason I stopped in the first place it was because I lost contact with the commissioner and I lost my drive with it too.I intended at some point to donate it to the Chow Hound association in US... but it was obvious I lost the tide and I fundered with this project... Then Irma... now I am engaged on multiple modeling fronts with a building schedule stretching until September or so... I just don't know yet - maybe one day I go ballistic, shake the dust on it and keep going...

Thanks!Gabriel

Gabriel, I really feel for you with the destruction caused by the hurricane. Hopefully, that was the worst of the damage in your home. Living on LI which sticks out into the Atlantic, we do get our share of them over the years.

I really admire you for even coming up with a restoration plan to repair and finish your B-17. Most modelers, including me would have tossed it into the recycle bin and moved on, especially if the person who commissioned the build just walked way from it.

Gabriel,I really feel for you with the destruction caused by the hurricane. Hopefully, that was the worst of the damage in your home. Living on LI which sticks out into the Atlantic, we do get our share of them over the years.

Thank, Joel! Last hurricane season was really mad. I had my share of damage, but that was nothing in comparison with my neighbors. My immediate neighborhood was bulldozed. A cluster of three houses still stood at the end - one of the three is mine. But now it's for the past and bitter memories - I fixed everything back and I took the opportunity to upgrade.

Quoted Text

I really admire you for even coming up with a restoration plan to repair and finish your B-17. Most modelers, including me would have tossed it into the recycle bin and moved on, especially if the person who commissioned the build just walked way from it.

I'm one of the lucky modelers that build for the pure pleasure of it. After I finish a model and took the last pictures, I can dispose with it without much drama (exceptions allowed). I even intend to give away my completed models to my yt crowd if they pay for shipping. I had some 6 models damaged by Irma, of which the most important for me was a 1/350 Bismarck. I trashed them without flinching, but I couldn't part ways with Chow Hound just because isn't completed. Strange, huh?

I appreciate your warm feelings, and I am pretty sure you understand best for living in Long Island...

I guess you and Brian will 'trick' me into restarting that project after all.

Gabriel,I really feel for you with the destruction caused by the hurricane. Hopefully, that was the worst of the damage in your home. Living on LI which sticks out into the Atlantic, we do get our share of them over the years.

Thank, Joel! Last hurricane season was really mad. I had my share of damage, but that was nothing in comparison with my neighbors. My immediate neighborhood was bulldozed. A cluster of three houses still stood at the end - one of the three is mine. But now it's for the past and bitter memories - I fixed everything back and I took the opportunity to upgrade.

Quoted Text

I really admire you for even coming up with a restoration plan to repair and finish your B-17. Most modelers, including me would have tossed it into the recycle bin and moved on, especially if the person who commissioned the build just walked way from it.

I'm one of the lucky modelers that build for the pure pleasure of it. After I finish a model and took the last pictures, I can dispose with it without much drama (exceptions allowed). I even intend to give away my completed models to my yt crowd if they pay for shipping. I had some 6 models damaged by Irma, of which the most important for me was a 1/350 Bismarck. I trashed them without flinching, but I couldn't part ways with Chow Hound just because isn't completed. Strange, huh?

I appreciate your warm feelings, and I am pretty sure you understand best for living in Long Island...

I guess you and Brian will 'trick' me into restarting that project after all.

Gabriel

Gabriel, Brian's a "Jersey Boy" and for some reason never seem to get the worst of these storms as LI takes the brunt for them.

Many years ago hurricane Gloria hit us hard in Sept, and we had a 40 ft tree on our front lawn. Well, I procrastinated in having it cut down as it was Termite invested, so Gloria took it down free of charge. It went right through the garage taking a good section of that roof as well.

13 years ago our house burnt down, so we lost literally everything except the cloths on our backs,luckily my fishing gear is kept in the garage and survived, but nothing else did. We lived in a 40 ft trailer on our front lawn for almost a year so that our son could go to his school. Like you, we upgraded just about everything, so the new house is so much better then the old house. But that year was a killer for sure.

Gabriel,Brian's a "Jersey Boy" and for some reason never seem to get the worst of these storms as LI takes the brunt for them.

Many years ago hurricane Gloria hit us hard in Sept, and we had a 40 ft tree on our front lawn. Well, I procrastinated in having it cut down as it was Termite invested, so Gloria took it down free of charge. It went right through the garage taking a good section of that roof as well.

13 years ago our house burnt down, so we lost literally everything except the cloths on our backs,luckily my fishing gear is kept in the garage and survived, but nothing else did. We lived in a 40 ft trailer on our front lawn for almost a year so that our son could go to his school. Like you, we upgraded just about everything, so the new house is so much better then the old house. But that year was a killer for sure.

Joel

Joel sorry for my days long silence... your share of bad happenings took me a little by surprise and switched me on "mute"

There's a said going around here: "Bad things happen to good people" and very rarely applies better than for you

Hi guys. This brief update is just to assure you that I'm still working on it. I've done most of the re-scribing, first pass, but before I finish it I want to get the roof of the cockpit back on. Here's some of the work that I have done.

There is a large gap in the after part of the roof and the rest of the fuselage behind it. The sheet styrene is there literally to "fill the gaps."

This shows a much snugger fit against the back of the cockpit roof part.

And this shows the after part of the roof and the sheet styrene sanded down so that it is flush with the after fuselage.

Generally speaking, the fit is excellent. There is a tiny bit of filling that I may need to do on the horizontal bonding surfaces adjacent to the port & stbd. sides of the top turret, but all in all it looks quite good.

The appearance may have given me an epiphany of sorts. I'm toying with the idea of having the fit "engineered" so good and flush that it doesn't need to be glued. This will allow me to lift the roof with the top turret completely off the completed model so that the interior of the cockpit (and the turret) can be displayed. Still trying to figure out whether I want to go that route or not but I am definitely considering it. What do you think?

I was tinkering with a 48th F and saw something I thought I would share with you. The pitot location looked off a bit. I pulled up a reference drawing and then made a pattern on a bit of old file folder. I then cut it out and placed it over the nose. Lo and behold, our friends at Revell missed it by a bit. Just a little detail that you haven't gotten to yet. I figured while it was fresh in my mind, I would share it with you.

The blob to the left of the pitot location is their place for the ADF loop. Probably need to research that a bit as well.

Brian - I love the idea of a removable roof . After all your painstaking work on the interior it would be nice to be able to view it . I don't want to push my luck here ( or push you over the edge !) but how about doing the same somewhere on the aft fuselage ? Great to see you back at it .

Brian - I love the idea of a removable roof . After all your painstaking work on the interior it would be nice to be able to view it . I don't want to push my luck here ( or push you over the edge !) but how about doing the same somewhere on the aft fuselage ? Great to see you back at it .

Not a huge amount to show you this evening but I do want to confirm that, yeah, I'm still working on it…

So, basically, I glued the clear plastic to the roof, masked it, and sprayed it. Also added some plastic port side so that it fits better.

I'll start with the port side here:

And this is the starboard side, with a better fit to start.

More work on this over the w/e. There remains a lot of feathering work to do to make the rear of the roof part blend in better with the fuselage aft of it, and only after that's done will I make a final decision on whether or not I should glue the roof on. If it looks "seamless" after the work is done, then lifting the roof off is an option. Otherwise, well we will see, literally.

I'm one of the lucky modelers that build for the pure pleasure of it. After I finish a model and took the last pictures, I can dispose with it without much drama (exceptions allowed). I even intend to give away my completed models to my yt crowd if they pay for shipping. I had some 6 models damaged by Irma, of which the most important for me was a 1/350 Bismarck. I trashed them without flinching, but I couldn't part ways with Chow Hound just because isn't completed. Strange, huh?

Gabriel, I must say that I was extremely surprised by your comment. I'm the exact opposite about keeping models. For me building and collecting is the thing. The ultimate objective is to have a nice collection.

One side effect of the length of this build is that I've started to add to my collection purchasing the works of others on eBay, and also purchasing certain diecast manufacturers, Carousel 1 (now out of business) and Hobby Master, very much in business. I have also, to my shame, picked up a number of Franklin Mint diecast birds, but one has to be very discriminating in picking those.

Practically every one I have ready for final display I have tinkered with a bit to correct errors, mostly in markings. In some cases I have torn them apart in certain areas to fix gross errors like detailing an engine that's painted flat black, adding antenna wire, extra parts from the spares box, and things like that.

I've never been into the contests, so a reasonably decent "shelf model" is good enough for me in most cases. "Luscious Lady," of course, is a huge exception. But I also have to say that the length of this build has caused me to question the utility of super detailing. I've taken a more holistic look at kits and models as a result of this work, and adopted much more of a "if it looks right, then it's probably good enough" attitude.

Part of this is the actuarial factor at work. I will be nothing less than 69 years old in September, an antiquity so shocking that I can hardly accept it. What it means is that I know I'll never get done on my stash and if I want nice models to look at I have to "outsource" some of them. There still is some pleasure in doing corrections to the prefab ones to put "my stamp" on them.

Anyway, in addition to posting work on this build here I will periodically post in the series called "The Die Is Cast." (Pun intended.) Putting "OPW" (other people's work) on display with my tinkering gives me some opportunity to talk about my attitude towards modeling over the years.

I will tell you that this collecting urge and getting OPW stuff on my shelves isn't entirely new. It's just that I've done more of it since LL because I have so little time to model given my day job.

Anyway, expect the first post on that "series" later this week end too.

Brian, An interesting concept for sure. I'd love to see some of the models and diecasts you've improved for your display. Honestly, it's something that I've never given much thought to as yet.

So you're still working a solid 60+ hours per week, and will be 69 shortly. I worked 50 hrs per week till I was 68, then cut it way back to 4 days 40 hrs. this past Nov I turned 70, and they still wanted me to work even though for years I've been telling them one more year and I'm retiring. Finally, one day at the end of this past Jan, I went into work, and just quit/retired/call it what you want. It was way past my time. When they asked me how much notice I was giving, I told them I've given them literally years of notice. And went home.

Honestly, retirement so far has been a constant vacation that just doesn't end. Although, my wife certainly doesn't think so. I even found time to go fishing twice per week. Haven't done that in more then 15 years.

So you're still working a solid 60+ hours per week, and will be 69 shortly. I worked 50 hrs per week till I was 68, then cut it way back to 4 days 40 hrs. this past Nov I turned 70, and they still wanted me to work even though for years I've been telling them one more year and I'm retiring. Finally, one day at the end of this past Jan, I went into work, and just quit/retired/call it what you want. It was way past my time. When they asked me how much notice I was giving, I told them I've given them literally years of notice. And went home.

Joel:

Suppose I have always been something of a workaholic although I do wish there was a time in my life (now!) that I could slow down. Somehow or other, what with the massive wealth transfer associated with my divorce, and my transition from corporate to immigration law, it became clear that I couldn't retire. So I'm pretty much resigned to dying in the saddle. There are worse ways to go, especially when you think you are "doing good" for others.

But believe me, there are times when I wonder what it would be like to have all the time in the world on my hands and my stash to work on. Would I get bored? Would I have second thoughts? If I'm honest, probably not, if I had the ability to retire, but that's just not the way things worked out for me.

And enough on this subject! I'm going to do my first "The Die Is Cast" post in a few minutes.

I'm one of the lucky modelers that build for the pure pleasure of it. After I finish a model and took the last pictures, I can dispose with it without much drama (exceptions allowed). I even intend to give away my completed models to my yt crowd if they pay for shipping. I had some 6 models damaged by Irma, of which the most important for me was a 1/350 Bismarck. I trashed them without flinching, but I couldn't part ways with Chow Hound just because isn't completed. Strange, huh?

Gabriel, I must say that I was extremely surprised by your comment. I'm the exact opposite about keeping models. For me building and collecting is the thing. The ultimate objective is to have a nice collection.

One side effect of the length of this build is that I've started to add to my collection purchasing the works of others on eBay, and also purchasing certain diecast manufacturers, Carousel 1 (now out of business) and Hobby Master, very much in business. I have also, to my shame, picked up a number of Franklin Mint diecast birds, but one has to be very discriminating in picking those.

Practically every one I have ready for final display I have tinkered with a bit to correct errors, mostly in markings. In some cases I have torn them apart in certain areas to fix gross errors like detailing an engine that's painted flat black, adding antenna wire, extra parts from the spares box, and things like that.

I've never been into the contests, so a reasonably decent "shelf model" is good enough for me in most cases. "Luscious Lady," of course, is a huge exception. But I also have to say that the length of this build has caused me to question the utility of super detailing. I've taken a more holistic look at kits and models as a result of this work, and adopted much more of a "if it looks right, then it's probably good enough" attitude.

Part of this is the actuarial factor at work. I will be nothing less than 69 years old in September, an antiquity so shocking that I can hardly accept it. What it means is that I know I'll never get done on my stash and if I want nice models to look at I have to "outsource" some of them. There still is some pleasure in doing corrections to the prefab ones to put "my stamp" on them.

Anyway, in addition to posting work on this build here I will periodically post in the series called "The Die Is Cast." (Pun intended.) Putting "OPW" (other people's work) on display with my tinkering gives me some opportunity to talk about my attitude towards modeling over the years.

I will tell you that this collecting urge and getting OPW stuff on my shelves isn't entirely new. It's just that I've done more of it since LL because I have so little time to model given my day job.

Anyway, expect the first post on that "series" later this week end too.

Bryan, I think I just don't have the collector's gene I can't explain better. I even set up a give away policy on my YT channel - it is explained in my last Channel Update - so if you like to collect other modeler's works and if you like what comes out from my bench - be my guest! I'll rather give them away to someone that I know will have good care than to some kiddo that gets excited for the moment and trashes it hours later

I'm very glad to see the building moving forward

Related to another conversation, I try to put at least 2 hrs every day in modeling, but sometimes those two hours are being eaten by doing research or editing YT videos or answering my posts... for instance last three days I spent less than 20 minutes at my bench - but that was rather an exception...